World's first blood test diagnoses IBS

May 22, 2015, 6:59 AM EDT

Bloomberg via Getty Images

Irritable bowel syndrome is a common gastrointestinal condition, but has been thought to be psychological in part because of the lack of tests available for it. A new blood test has emerged in the U.S. that brings hope for properly diagnosing the condition. CBS News reports:

An estimated 25 million to 45 million Americans suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, a gastrointestinal condition that can cause miserable symptoms. Making it worse for many patients, there hasn't been a conclusive test to diagnose what's wrong with them. Without proof of a physical cause, some doctors considered IBS a psychological disorder.

But that could finally change with the introduction of two simple new blood tests for spotting the disease. Dr. Mark Pimentel of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles developed the tests.

"We now have a test to say, you have a disease," Pimentel told CBS News. "Having a test like this shortens the time of suffering, it shortens the time of investigation and accelerates getting the patient directly to treatment."